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On June 27, 2026, four managers were terminated by White Rhino Coffee and ParvCo following a Managers' Summit in which they raised concerns about a new uniform and appearance policy introduced as part of the company's merger with Emporium Pies.
The policy banned natural hair colors outside a narrow approved range, restricted piercings to a single small nose stud, prohibited septum rings, hoops, and most facial piercings, and required all employees to purchase a five-day uniform -- offering only a $25 one-time credit to cover the cost. This, at a company that pays its baristas under $8 per hour.
The four terminated managers -- Paloma Ortiz, Lori Subialdea, Autumn Stevens, and Rachael Bell -- are the only openly queer managers in the company. When they raised concerns about how this policy would impact their queer, pierced, and culturally expressive staff, they were told by company executives to leave the meeting. They left. The following day, they were fired -- each receiving an identical termination notice listing their offense under the same category as theft, fraud, and violence. Not one of them had a single prior disciplinary action on record.
Their requests for severance were denied.
Since their terminations, more than 15 additional employees have resigned or walked out. Bakers are reporting dangerous working conditions -- kitchens reaching 89 degrees, no air conditioning, start times pushed to 3:30 AM just to avoid the heat, as well as unsafe food handling conditions - dough on racks in a trashed warehouse. The pies being sent to stores can't be sold because the person who made them was fired. The quality has suffered along with the employees.
The teams who remain present at the stores have been abandoned without support, resources, or so much as a phone call from corporate.
This is the same company that, earlier this year, directed staff to extend first-responder discounts to ICE agents who had been intimidating employees -- and faced public backlash for it.
It is the same company that blocked a trans organization from tabling during NTX Giving Month.
It is the same company that was excluded from McKinney Pride and ignored an invitation to Fort Worth Pride.
The following accounts are from current and former employees, all of whom have chosen to remain anonymous unless otherwise noted.
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"This feels like an obvious dig and a way for the company to weed out queer folks and make sure they never feel safe. As someone still working at the company, many regular customers are outraged by what is happening and by our individuality being stripped away. Their response has been, 'Who would do such a thing?' Support from upper management has been almost nonexistent. We have run out of food and are unsure when our next shipment will be. It honestly feels like they don't care at all about their employees or customers at this point."
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"The unlawful terminations of the aforementioned parties were the impetus for my resignation, yet the desire to leave had already been festering within the staff for a while. WRC Corporate has continually shown an utter disregard for the safety, well-being, and welfare of anyone or anything besides their bottom line. Throughout ongoing labor shortages and maintenance issues, the on-the-floor staff continuously asked upper management for assistance, only to be met with demands for higher outputs and smaller budgets. The WRC store consistently outperformed projected metrics -- surpassing revenue goals and maintaining low labor costs -- due in large part to the tireless efforts of the store manager. These sudden terminations came not as a shock, but as a rude awakening to how little the C-suite truly cares for the customer-facing side of WRC. Any company that harbors such contempt for its own staff should and must be met with scrutiny and community backlash."
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"In the aftermath of White Rhino's decision to immediately terminate multiple managers, the situation has become increasingly difficult to navigate for those left wondering how their jobs -- and therefore their livelihoods -- can continue without the support of upper management. These decisions were made with no consideration of the effects on those dealing with the public, nor of the customer outcry stemming from issues that would not have arisen had corporate leadership considered the ramifications of its actions. Our shop has remained just as busy as before, but without a manager to handle customer complaints, place orders, or support the team on the floor, hourly workers have been left to navigate corporate decisions and customer conversations for meager wages. There has been near silence from the top as we flounder, trying to keep our shop functional and to tread water in a sea of doubt, frustration, and fear, with no support or clarity on how to proceed. Hourly shift leads are being asked to make management decisions with no additional compensation and without anyone from corporate even having the decency to stop by the shop. We have been abandoned. We have been ignored. We have been forgotten. As staff leave for more secure jobs, those remaining must work twice as hard to fill the gaps. In the past, we sought specific labor metrics to demonstrate we were not overstaffed. Now we have more than halved those numbers, yet we cannot even get a phone call from our district manager asking how they can help. We have run out of food to sell, and customers have directed their frustration at hourly employees who have no answers to give. We keep waiting for help that will seemingly never come. This is not the job we applied for or the job we accepted. It is an abuse of power by those at the top, carried out to protect their image at the expense of those at the bottom of the corporate ladder."
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"As a company that claims to hold Christian values, they treat their staff in the exact opposite way."
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"They are actively working against queer and POC individuals who use piercings, tattoos, and clothing as a form of self or cultural expression. As an openly queer and current employee of White Rhino Coffee, it disgusts me to see the lengths this company will go to ensure the incredibly diverse staff they employ does not feel safe or welcomed. Ownership made it clear that they want to 'welcome everyone to their table,' but as staff, we are met with direct attacks on our individuality and a disregard for our safety and well-being as supposed 'valued employees.' It has been made abundantly clear that we are NOT welcome at that table. We are expected to follow blindly and not ask questions. We are asked to uphold a bigoted way of thinking that does not align with our morals. And ultimately, we are forced to diminish ourselves to conform to their 'higher standard,' which is straight, white, and ignorant."
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"They're going to say they're not targeting us -- but they're targeting us. To say the way I dress is unprofessional is a slap in the face."
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"I had my own run-ins with White Rhino as a customer before working under them. I became a regular at one of their locations and loved it because of how friendly and welcoming the staff was. I even used their app to earn points. Unfortunately, baristas would tell customers that the company would not protect them from sexual and verbal harassment and would not terminate the people responsible. So I already had concerns about how the company treated its employees. When I was informed that our Emporium Pies bakery would be sold to White Rhino, I was shocked, but I kept my morale up because of how much I adored my job and coworkers. We were verbally promised that we would keep our jobs and that we had nothing to worry about. But when the ICE incident happened, it was embarrassing to say I worked for this company. I was baffled when they fired my manager simply because she stood her ground about maintaining an inclusive environment. Emporium Pies was built on individuality and freedom of expression. I went to work not having to worry about my appearance, and that should never affect the quality of one's work. We were displaced from our original kitchen and placed into a garage and a secondary kitchen with no air conditioning. There were times I felt I was going to pass out from the heat. The kitchen reached 89 degrees. Many of us complained, and White Rhino was aware that conditions needed to improve before our busiest season -- but they chose to rebrand their image instead of fixing their kitchen. It was so hot that the dough would become soft and sticky and nearly impossible to work with. Rather than addressing the issue, they suggested we arrive earlier than our scheduled clock-in time. They did not care for us or our health. We were only numbers to them. When I returned to work after they had fired my manager, the energy had completely shifted. Whatever felt familiar was gone. Any sense of structure vanished over a single weekend. Expectations placed on us bakers increased tenfold. They wanted four of us to do the work of ten. When we explained that was impossible, they suggested we quit. Whatever stability I thought I had was gone, and I could not stay for the sake of my own health."
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"On the pie side of things -- the shop manager at Fort Worth has been in tears over the quality of the pies being sent to her. They have been sending her pies she cannot sell because they fired the person responsible for making them."
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"Even the one straight, white, conservative man on our team -- someone who had photos of himself meeting Ted Cruz -- was outraged enough to quit. His words: 'Making the coffee less gay makes it worse. Everyone knows that.'"
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"Although my time with Emporium Pies was shorter than many of my coworkers', it was long enough for me to recognize leadership that genuinely stood out. My managers created an environment where people felt respected, supported, and valued for the work they did. In the production bakery, we made pies behind the scenes and did not interact with customers. Because of that, our focus was teamwork, quality, and safety -- not appearance or customer-facing presentation. When the uniform and appearance policy was introduced, many of us in production felt there was a disconnect between those expectations and our actual roles. What stood out to me was how my managers responded. From my perspective, they advocated for adjustments that would better reflect the reality of production work, and they were actively speaking up for staff and raising concerns about how the policies would affect back-of-house employees. That willingness to advocate for the people under them is what leadership looked like to me. After my managers were suddenly gone, there was enormous uncertainty. The following Sunday, only a few of us showed up compared to a normal shift, but the workload stayed exactly the same. It was incredibly stressful. I remember feeling anxious returning that day -- not about the work itself, which I loved, but about the loss of the structure and leadership that had made the workplace feel safe. That shift had a real emotional impact on me and contributed to my decision to leave. There were also difficult working conditions, including extreme heat in the workspace, that added to the overall experience of navigating a workplace that was changing too quickly and without care. I am sharing my experience because I believe good leadership should be recognized. My managers led with empathy, integrity, and genuine care for their team. They made people feel seen and respected, and they were willing to advocate for fairness in ways that truly mattered."
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"I started working for Emporium Pies in 2023. In January of this year, I made the difficult decision to leave the company upon hearing of their support for ICE. Although I cared deeply about the company before its acquisition by White Rhino Coffee and was attached to my coworkers, it felt morally wrong to continue working for a place that supported something that directly affected me and those I love. I decided to return in May because I needed to pay for school. I felt reassured in that decision because my manager made her voice heard in meetings and ensured we were considered, even when we weren't in the room. When I heard about new policies that seemed to target a specific community, I felt worried -- but I truly thought there was no way they would enforce them if they knew how it made us feel. During my entire time here, the main thing that has stood out has been the uniqueness of the staff and how we all make ourselves seen. Reflecting on my time since the buyout, I realize now that I have not felt considered at all. I have been thinking about the poor working conditions and how our concerns were dismissed instead of being genuinely addressed. When my manager told me her job might be at risk, I did not hesitate to tell her that if she left, I would leave with her. She was the reason I came back, and having her as a leader made me feel better about who I was working for. She never made me doubt where she stood on our rights, and she cared about us as people, not just as employees working below her. When she told us she had been let go, I realized that this company never cared about us. They would rather fire what is left of the real Emporium Pies than take into consideration what their employees actually care about."
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"I made the difficult decision to resign after almost three years due to my inability to continue working for a company whose policies alienate its dedicated employees. These policies, coupled with the manner in which upper management conducted themselves, significantly lowered morale and instilled a pervasive sense of uncertainty among staff. The working conditions were subpar. We were assigned to work in a kitchen and a garage without air conditioning. While upper management sat comfortably in their offices with sweaters and blankets, bakers and kitchen staff endured intense heat with the ovens running. Despite our managers raising complaints about these conditions to upper management, we never received a satisfactory response. This entire incident has demonstrated to employees that if we use our voices to stand up for ourselves and what is right -- as our managers did -- the company will fire us to silence us. White Rhino Coffee and Emporium Pies is not a safe workplace for individuals of color or members of the LGBTQ+ community."
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"The kitchen conditions were the worst I have ever endured. I complained almost daily. Aramis Loetz's response was to ask whether we could come in two hours earlier -- at 4:00 AM instead of 6:00 AM -- to avoid the hotter part of the day."
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"Our start times were pushed to 3:30 AM for some managers and 4:00 AM for the bakers. A solution was eventually found to complete the work before conditions became unbearable after noon. Now, with that leadership gone, the remaining bakers are required to stay until 2:00 PM in the heat -- with no solution, no relief, and no one from corporate who seems to care."
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"Since the doors first opened at Emporium Pies, we operated as a company that was accepting of all. Storefront employees, managers, and ownership would all express their individual identities, and it was something that was celebrated. I believe this is what made Emporium Pies earn such a loyal and devoted community -- one where everyone truly felt accepted and welcomed. As soon as Emporium Pies was in the hands of White Rhino Coffee, things crumbled. Working conditions drastically changed, but we kept being promised that things would soon improve because we were supposedly 'what was left of Emporium Pies and we were valued.' It was very obvious that we were not. We worked in a garage where temperatures skyrocketed to the high 80s. Multiple fans were not enough to keep us cool. On top of that, we were crammed into a small kitchen where moving past each other was nearly impossible. Our equipment was cut in half, leaving us with limited space and making it significantly harder to complete our daily tasks. Conditions were not up to standard, but through it all, our manager made sure that our complaints were heard by White Rhino management. White Rhino simply did not care. They do not care for people of color or members of the LGBTQ+ community, and they have shown this time and time again. We are disposable to them."
The pattern is clear. The people who paid the price are real.
Rachael, Paloma, Lori, and Autumn are suddenly unemployed, denied severance, and navigating the aftermath of terminations that were unlawful, discriminatory, and retaliatory. Every dollar raised goes directly to supporting them as they find their footing.
We are calling on White Rhino Coffee and ParvCo to do the right thing and provide severance reflective of their tenure, their performance, and the true circumstances of their dismissal.
Until then, this is where you come in.
Help us do what White Rhino Coffee / Emporium Pies / ParvCo wouldn't even CONSIDER allowing -- make our voices KNOWN, and help support our AMAZING, people-oriented managers navigate unemployment in this vicious economy.
Organizer
